活人也需破地獄

黃子華在電影《破地獄》中的一句對白「生人都需要破地獄，生人都有好多地獄」幾乎說穿了人們埋藏於心裡無法解脫的痛苦根源。許冠文在劇中為無數先人破地獄，自己的地獄卻始終留在心中，一輩子和親人過著不愉快的生活，甚至面臨破裂的關係。直到生命盡頭，他才領悟到自己的執著正是破壞與子女關係的元兇。然而，為時已晚，只好待死後，請黃子華安排女兒替他「破」地獄，「破」的卻是兩位子女的地獄，讓他們兄妹放下仇恨！

電影《破地獄》的成功，或許正回應了杜琪峰導演在BBC訪問中對香港電影創作的無奈。他坦言非常渴望在香港再拍電影，但一直無法動筆，只能默默等待時機，不知何時才能重拾創作。世上許多事不由我們控制，何不嘗試突破自己的地獄，給自己快樂的機會。也許杜琪峰也需要「破地獄」！

2024年11月16日

但願人長久，千「裡」共嬋娟

中秋佳節期間，某大學在校園裏掛上「但願人長久，千裡共嬋娟」的橫額，為校園加添一點節日氣氛。有識之士紛紛在網上留言，批評專上學府的文化水平竟淪落如斯境地！

有所不知，此非一般的錯別字例子，而是由於「簡體轉換繁體」的程式未盡完善，導致繁體字和簡體字在多字合併為一字時出現混淆，而校對的人也可能不太懂繁體字，才會犯上此類基本錯誤。具體來說，「裡」和「裏」都表示內部，而「里」則是距離的單位。簡化後，「裡」和「里」均寫作「里」。在內地長大的年輕一代甚少接觸繁體字，知道「里」有多重意義，但不會想到有另一個「裡」字的存在，兩字分別在不同語意環境應用可避免混淆。由於不認識「裡」字，需要簡繁轉換時，發現「裡」是「里」的繁體版，直覺認定繁體就只有「裡」字，順理成章的接受了用「千裡」來形容距離的合理性。

簡化過程把多字合併為一字的例子也屢見不鮮。例如，「發」與「髮」在意義上雖有天淵之別，但簡化後卻將兩字合併為「发」。二十年前，我在西安的香格里拉飯店商場的一家理髮店，看見招牌故意用繁體字書寫，相信是為了方便港澳客人，招牌寫的是「理發店」，我們當然知道是打錯字了，但對於習慣以簡體字作為思想載體的內地人來說，就完全不覺問題存在！簡繁轉換程式生成的「麵試」、「真麵目」、「五鬥米」、「徵服」也經常被誤作正寫，無人察覺！

倘若被合併的兩個字有相反的意義，應用上就變得更麻煩了。例如：「製」和「制」兩字合併為「制」。「製」是「製造」的意思，而「制」可作「抑制」之意！

另一經典例子是「傑」和「杰」，前者有「傑出」和「豪傑」的意思；而後者則沒有什麼特別意義，一般只用於姓名，是屬於五行字，即「木」加「火」。問題出現在簡化後，「傑」也變成了「杰」。究竟一位來自內地的「 陈杰先生」是「陳傑」還是「陳杰」？ 若你口頭問他，是「傑出」的「傑」嗎？由於他只懂簡體，他當然說「是」，但他指的是他知道唯一的「杰」字！十多年前，我在北京請了一位篆刻師傅，為一位朋友雕刻姓名章，朋友叫「黃杰波」，此名有五行不缺之意，而「杰」是「木」和「火」。完成了的石章放在小錦盒內，頗為精緻，但驚見朋友的姓名被刻成「黃傑波」，我追問師傅是否誤會了，他理直氣壯的解析說，篆刻必須用繁體，還教導我「杰」是個簡體字，正確的寫法是「傑」啊！我無言以對！所以，台灣歌手「周杰倫」的名字絕對不能寫成「傑倫」！

更嚴重的是三字合一，如「複」、「復」、「覆」合併簡化為「复」。「複雜」、「復旦大學」和「回覆」簡化成「复杂」、「复旦大学」和「回复」。三個「复」字的意義完全不同，現在卻無法分辨！我到過上海復旦大學訪問，如果沒有看到校徽，光看「复旦大学」，究竟是哪個「复」字就無從知曉了！當然，你可以反駁說，既然是簡化了，哪個「复」字又有何關係！

從文字邏輯的角度來看，簡化是一種把文字粗略化的過程，長遠而言，對於一個民族的思想邏輯會否做成影響就不可而知了！肯定的說，簡化後的中文，為了避免混淆，字必然是用多了，不及以繁體書寫的簡潔。如果你看到一台化學儀器上的按鈕標示為繁體「製氮」，這兩個字的意義非常清晰，但若是以簡體「制氮」標示，哪究竟是什麼意思呢？

2024年10月1日

Are we destroying our own present and past with cloud storages?

Documents written on traditional media such as paper or engraved on stones have proven to withstand the test of time, allowing knowledge to be preserved for thousands of years. These physical artifacts have served as essential sources of information about the past, ensuring the transfer of knowledge to future generations.

However, with the advent of technology, the concept of a "paperless" archive has gained prominence. Cloud storage has emerged as a stable and reliable method of storing various types of records, ranging from temporary to permanent or archival, in professional, industrial, business, and personal applications. The digitization of academia has been underway for over a decade, resulting in a swift decline in printed papers. Many archival journals and proceedings are now exclusively published and maintained on cloud servers. One thing for sure is that these cloud storages consume a huge amount of energy and will expand at an exponential rate!

My question is whether these cloud storages will endure for a thousand years. We may foresee that all digital archives would theoretically vanish in a scenario where power is depleted. However, even in a future where energy becomes scarce, human civilization may continue in ways that are beyond our imagination. But then, people have no clue as to what their ancestors had done! In such a future, the existence of archived media that does not rely on mandatory energy supply would prove invaluable and perhaps would be the only source that remains accessible to future generations. 

Let's think about it! With cloud storage replacing printed media, we are destroying our only tangible links to the distant future though it may sound too remote for people to be worried about at the present time! Two thousand years later, whether we will have enough power to maintain such an enormous amount of information is questionable, or are we destroying our own present and past?

June 3, 2024

Where is Cathay?

Most people would know that the word Cathay, the name of Hong Kong's flagship airline, is the ancient name for China, but very few actually acknowledge that Cathay is an alternative word for Khitay or Qidan (契丹), a name familiar to most Chinese people who have had some basic Chinese history education. The coverage of Khitay was pretty much the entire northern China nowadays, including the present-day capital city of Beijing. Spanning over 200 years, from 916 to 1125 AD, Khitay was known as the Liao (遼) dynasty until it was ultimately defeated by the Mongolians or Jin (金). When the Liao dynasty was a prominent part of Asia, the Europeans and most nations from the west saw Khitay as the most important and dominant center of the east and regarded it as the whole of China. Hence, Khitay almost meant the whole of China to the then-Western world. Even until now, Kitai is still the Russian word for China. (Map on right: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

It is, however, interesting to note that contemporary Chinese history texts often classify Qidan during its 200 years of prime time as a foreign tribe, while considering the Song (宋) dynasty as the true representation of China, which differs from the Western perspective. Despite being acknowledged as the definitive China, the Song dynasty had relatively limited territorial sovereignty. In contrast, the Tang (唐) dynasty, in its most prosperous era, claimed control over a much larger northern boundary, but it did not possess complete sovereignty over the entire territory in a technical sense, either politically infeasible or uninterested in achieving so. In recent years, we have heard so much from official comments that certain geographical regions have been part of China since ancient times (自古以來). The historical truth, however, does not quite support it, or one would need to pinpoint "how ancient" or "since when" the comment refers to. History is not a singular moment, but rather a continuous timeline encompassing countless events, each contributing to the tapestry of our present reality. Every region of China, whether it be the south, north, west, or beyond, can be traced through history to reveal its existence within various contexts—within the realm of sovereign boundaries, under foreign rule, or even as an independent entity with its distinct origins. Our Cantonese region could once have been an unwelcome part of China (南蠻) but could also have been a legitimate part of China for a significantly long period of time and certainly a very important part today. 

May 27, 2024

新能源汽車產業的收場

經濟學101的基本供求關係，由市場控制，供多了就要降價，求過於供則價格得以提高。澳洲的農夫寧願把過剩的農產品掉進垃圾桶也不願推出市場售賣，他們集體行動，誰都不能破壞規矩。能保持高價是對生活質素的保障，把價錢做爛了就只有白做。中國人喜歡自己顧自己，你不賣我賣，你出價10元，我就賣9元搶客。同一理念，政府帶頭影響國際市場。自2010年，中國高額補貼電動車生產商，一輛續航力達250公里的純電動車，國家給60000元補貼，續航力只有80公里的，也有35000元補貼。地方政府也有補貼，插電混合動力車4800元，純電動車12600元。結果是不少汽車企業加入，以吃大茶飯的心態，大量製造低續航力的廉價電動車，製造商拿了政府的補貼後，再以另一家公司購回，換取地方政府補貼。市場根本消化不下，加上疫情後需求大幅下滑，最終大量電動車堆在空地上。

歷史重演，中國曾經為了發展半導體、通信等產業，投放不少資源並推出大額項目支持相關行業，但時至今天，中國還未能在半導體產業上取得領先地位。過去十年大力推動新能源汽車產業發展，重蹈覆轍，務求擺脫先進國家的牽制。從數字看來，這次中國的確很成功，去年外銷汽車522.1萬輛，其中120.3萬輛是新能源汽車，成為世界之冠。但是，從2016年到2022年中國政府補貼新能源汽車至少570億美元（Alix Partners報告指），如此巨額補貼是中國新能源汽車能以低價取勝的關鍵。長遠來看，這種銷售策略必會成為行業最大的發展障礙。當越來越多企業投入競爭，加上市場的庫存壓力，自然引發價格戰，內地媒體以「血拚」來形容現時由比亞迪掀起的價格戰。中國100多家生產商，相信不少聞所未聞。內需難以消化龐大的產能，外銷是唯一出路，不難估計結果將是自相殘殺，同時禍及國際企業，對中國的經濟長遠發展起不了正面影響。

中國補貼的問題不單在新能源汽車產業上出現，航空業也如是。澳洲於2016年取消了限制來往中國與澳洲的航班數量的相互協議，意味著兩國旗下來往中澳的航班無需在數量上維持對等。中國東航背後有國家支持，票價可以降至澳航無法抵禦的水平，最終迫使澳航取消了最繁忙的上海悉尼航線，澳航稱該航線的搭乘率只達50%。跟電動車產業一樣，都是直接或間接由政府補貼，以國家的資源來與外企競爭，取得一時的勝利。問題是中國的企業能否長期依賴補貼來維持競爭力呢？換另一個角度看，是誰的錢補貼了誰的生意？BMW、Mercedes、Posche 是靠什麼建立在行業的領導地位？ LV、Chanel 那些名牌又是靠什麼來長期吸引顧客呢？

2024年5月26日

一眾被工作耽誤了的準藝術家們還有希望啊！

數年前聽到港產樂隊 My Little Airport 的一首寫實歌曲「邊一個發明了返工*」，反映眾多打工仔的心聲。在香港打工的十居其九都認同返工只會「返到我愈來愈窮」。即使你是少數幸運的打工仔，不至於愈來愈窮，但到了「青春就快用完」的中年，就只有嘆息為了工作而錯過了的寶貴生活經歷，回頭問「靈魂賣給了大財團」值得嗎？

當聽到「邊一個發明了返工，阻礙我藝術發展重重」，一眾為了生計而無法實現夢想的打工仔除了感到共鳴，又會否被啟發，在剩餘的人生，挽回一點生活的價值呢？

上個月，一位朋友告訴我一則題為「藝術家駐留及展覽計劃」的政府招募廣告。該計劃是為專業或業餘藝術家提供藝術發展的機會，包括提供資金、工作室、展覽場地等，讓獲批的藝術家可以專心從事藝術工作。朋友非常雀躍，坐言起行，提交計劃書碰碰運氣。心知成功機會屬微乎其微，但心靈上已得到極大安慰，為「我有更多事沒法做完」 的心願作個交代！祝願她的計劃奇蹟地成功獲批！

2024年4月7日

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*廣東話「邊」與「哪」相通；「返工」即「上班」

Lifestyle Game Changers in the Past 5 Decades

When contemplating the most impactful inventions that have reshaped lifestyles worldwide over the past half-century, it is difficult to dispute that the Internet, emerging in the 1970s and gaining widespread popularity in the 1980s, stands as the unequivocal pioneer. Its advent brought about a paradigm shift in the way we interact and communicate. Nowadays, the practice of sending physical letters or Christmas cards has become a rarity.

Then, in the 1990s, a remarkable development unfolded with the emergence of Facebook, masterminded by an MIT graduate Mark Zuckerberg. This groundbreaking platform revolutionized the way individuals, communities, and businesses connected with one another. As a result, the world witnessed an unprecedented proliferation of social media platforms that forever changed how information impacted people's actions and decisions. 

In 2007, Apple made a groundbreaking announcement - the iPhone. This revolutionary device completely transformed the world of personal portable communication. Not just a mobile phone, the iPhone introduced the concept of Apps, which in turn revolutionized entertainment and creative work distribution. It had a profound impact on the business landscape, leading to the demise of traditional models while opening up a multitude of new opportunities.

In the 2010s, Tesla revolutionized the electric vehicle industry, bringing about a surge in popularity. Prior to Tesla's emergence, electric vehicles were largely unappealing, and despite governments' attempts to encourage the adoption of green transportation, advancements were minimal. Tesla, however, successfully transformed the perception of electric vehicles through their introduction of impressive long-range capabilities, innovative designs, autopilot systems, and user-friendly interfaces.

Finally, in November 2022, a remarkable milestone was achieved when OpenAI introduced its revolutionary Large Language Model (LLM) chatbot application, CHATGPT. Within a mere five days, this innovative creation managed to captivate the interest of over one million eager users. Astoundingly, within just three months, its user base soared to an estimated 100 million individuals. The CHATGPT is no ordinary chatbot; it possesses the ability to provide insightful responses and analyze information in a manner strikingly reminiscent of human thought. As a result, it has become a game-changer, altering the lives of people across all professions and industries.

It is worth noting that all of these game changers were invented by Americans, with some originating from small business startups. This naturally prompts the question: What is it about Americans that fosters such creativity and enables them to have such a profound and far-reaching impact on the world? Would it be an environment of openness, general respect of diversity, unrestricted flow of information, and the freedom to think and talk?

December 31, 2023